Senate Questions and Motions

A question period is scheduled on the Senate agenda for each meeting. Any senator may submit a written question or motion before a Senate meeting (see deadlines below).

Please note that the intent and purpose of the question period is similar to that of the Parliamentary Question Period, and should not be generally used as an opportunity to solicit opinions of individuals, to pose highly speculative questions, or to request information that is readily available through other sources.

Deadlines

The deadline for submitting questions and motions is 5 p.m. on:

Thursday, August 30, 2018, for consideration by the Senate Steering Committee on September 7, 2018.

Thursday, October 4, 2018, for consideration by the Senate Steering Committee on October 9, 2018.

Thursday, November 1, 2018, for consideration by the Senate Steering Committee on November 6, 2018.

Thursday, November 22, 2018, for consideration by the Senate Steering Committee on November 27, 2018.

Thursday, January 3, 2019, for consideration by the Senate Steering Committee on January 8, 2019.

Thursday, February 7, 2019, for consideration by the Senate Steering Committee on February 12, 2019.

Thursday, March 14, 2019, for consideration by the Senate Steering Committee on March 19, 2019.

Wednesday, April 3, 2018, for consideration by the Senate Steering Committee on April 8, 2018.

Thursday, May 2, 2018, for consideration by the Senate Steering Committee on May 7, 2018.

Questions or motions submitted after the deadline will be considered by the Senate Steering Committee at a subsequent meeting.

Question and Motion Forms

To submit a question or motion, please complete the appropriate form below and submit it as a Word document to georgia.ntentis [at] mcgill.ca (Georgia Ntentis).

Role of the Senate Steering Committee

The Senate Steering Committee reviews questions and motions submitted for the Senate Question Period and determines their suitability for Senate. As per its Terms of Reference, the Steering Committee may:

Decide to include the question/motion on the agenda of the next-scheduled Senate meeting, or to defer the question/motion to the agenda for the next Senate meeting, and advise the Principal on the appropriate officer to answer the question;

Refer the question/motion back to the submitter(s) for revision and resubmission with such suggested changes as the Steering Committee may advise; or

Determine that the question addresses a largely non-academic issue and direct the questioner(s) to refer the question in the first instance to the responsible University officer.